


There are Rules

by Daughter_of_Scotland



Series: Coldflash Short Stories [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, Babysitter!Len, Barry is in love, ColdFlash Week, Gen, Iris and Barry are 8, Len is 16, Len is a princess!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 07:04:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4819727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_of_Scotland/pseuds/Daughter_of_Scotland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Len is babysitting Barry and Iris when Barry tells him something very important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There are Rules

**Author's Note:**

> For day 5 of Coldflash Week!
> 
> Thanks to my wife Jess for betareading :)

Len wasn’t really sure how he’d ended up like this. He was wearing a bright pink tiara, a flowery skirt, and a magic wand “that isn’t magic, it needs to be kissed by a prince to get power again!”.

 

Len sighed. He wondered why he always ended up being the princess in these kind of games.

 

There was rustling from behind the door. Len braced himself just in time for Barry Allen and Iris West, his two “charges” of the day to run in, brandishing large wooden spoons as swords.

 

“The princess is mine!” Barry cried as he clanked his spoon against Iris’. He was wearing a crown made out of papmaché, that he and Len had made together a few weeks ago, and a suit jacket that almost reached his feet. The kid was tall for his age.

 

“No, she’s going to stay with me and read me stories for the rest of her life!” Iris yelled back. She was wearing a purple tutu and a tiara in the same color.

 

Len watched them as they raced around the room, fighting for the right to keep the princess - in this case, Len.

 

Len sighed. He only took these babysitting jobs because Lisa had begged him. After their dad had been arrested and they got placed into a group home, Len had contemplated running away, despite only being 14 years old.. But his sister, only 10 years old at the time, had cried so much that he had stayed. Now he was 16, working hard at school, and earning pocket money by babysitting and doing other odd jobs around the neighborhood.

 

His favorite charges were these two brats, Iris West, the daughter of Detective West, who finally arrested his dad, and Barry Allen, son of the Doctor who had realized Len’s bruises came from more than just simple falls.

 

Both kids were easy to love and very easy to watch - if he didn’t have to take care of them both at the same time. Then they seemed to come straight from hell, ready to make his hair turn white before he even graduated High School.

 

He looked at the kids again and decided to intervene before the game turned into a real fight. It happened sometimes. Usually when Len was involved, which still confused him.

  
“You can both just learn to share,” he told them and they stopped, turning to him with wide eyes.

 

Len smiled. “I can be the princess for both of you,” he elaborated.

 

Iris and Barry looked at each other, and then barreled into Len, hugging him around the middle. With an “Ooof!” he landed on the floor, the kids on top of him.

 

“You’re ours!” Iris said, giggling.

 

“Not letting you go!” Barry added and kissed Len’s cheek, rubbing against the bit of stubble there.

 

Len sighed as Iris started to do the same, both of them giggling like mad at the scratchy feeling. “Why is this my life?” he wondered aloud, but squeezed them both closer.

 

Besides Lisa, he loved no one as much as these two brats, that was for sure.

 

“Len?”

 

He turned his head and looked at Barry who stared at him with wide eyes. “Yes, Barry?”

 

The boy opened and closed his mouth for a few minutes before he visibly steeled himself. “I love you, Len,” he said seriously.

 

Len’s heart skipped a beat. He never knew how to react to even Lisa saying this, no matter the 8 year old boy he was babysitting. “I really like you, too,” he answered cautiously.

 

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, as Barry’s face fell and his eyes started to get  wet. “Oh,” he mumbled and squirmed out from under Len’s arm.

 

Len was confused enough to let him go, watching the boy run upstairs.

 

“Dummy!” Iris said and whacked him on the head with her spoon.

 

“Ow!” Len said and rubbed the spot. “Jesus, Iris, no hitting people, that hurt!”

 

She didn’t apologize, which in itself told him that he’d messed up somehow. Iris was always polite.

 

“You’re a dummy,” she repeated and got up. Her hands on her hips, she glared down at him and Len sat up slowly. “He said he loves you!”

 

“Yes, I heard that,” Len tried to intervene but she put a hand over his mouth, effectively shushing him.

 

“You should have said you love him, too!” Iris said, stomping her foot.

 

Len blinked and gently removed her hand. “Iris, it doesn’t work like that,” he said softly. “Barry is only eight.”

 

Iris shrugged. “So? I’m eight, too, and I already know I’m going to marry Bruce Wayne some day!”

 

Len was pretty sure Joe would have some specific words about that. But, back to the topic at hand.

 

“I’m not saying that Barry doesn’t mean it,” he tried to explain. “But I’m a lot older than he is and if I tell him I love him, it won’t mean the same.”

 

“Why not?” Iris asked, puzzled. “You always play with us, you always smile, you never get angry, not like the other babysitter we had before you, who always yelled at us for being loud… And you like Barry more than me, you smile more when you look at him.”

 

Len blinked at her. It dawned on him, that it was all true. Also, that Iris was really scary when she was so observant. Still…

 

“It’s still not the same,” he argued. “He’s too young for love.”

 

Iris shook her head. “You’re never too young for love,” she said, trying to sound wise. “Now get up there and apologize. Barry’s crying, I bet, because you broke his heart.”

 

Len doubted that but he went upstairs anyway.

 

***

 

“Barry? May I come in?” Len asked as he knocked on the frame of Barry’s open door.

 

The boy was wrapped in his blanket like a cocoon, but the blanket mountain moved in a nod so Len entered the room.

He sat on the bed and put his hand on top of what he guessed was Barry’s back.

 

“I’m sorry I hurt your feelings,” he said carefully. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

 

There was some sniffling from inside the cocoon and Len rubbed his hand up and down.

 

“You know, saying _I love you_ is something really special,” Len continued, keeping his voice soft and low, like he did when Lisa woke from a nightmare. “The older you get, the more careful you have to be with it.”

 

There was some rustling and then Barry’s head popped out, hair disheveled and eyes red. “So you don’t love me?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

 

Len reached for the glass of water already on the nightstand and helped Barry sip. “Not like you mean it, I think,” he answered.

 

Barry frowned. “I don’t get it. How many meanings are there?”

 

Len smiled a bit. “Lots,” he said. “And they’re different for anyone. For me, I love Lisa, of course, but she’s my sister. That’s one kind of love, for family. Like you love your Mom and Dad.”

 

Barry nodded, looking serious, prompting Len with his eyes to continue.

 

“And then there’s the love you have for your partner,” Len continued. “That’s the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. The one you might want to marry one day.”

 

Barry grinned. “But that’s what I want! That’s what I mean when I say _I love you_ to you! I want to marry you, Len!”

 

Len grimaced painfully. He couldn’t deny the way his heart skipped again. Of course it was wonderful that someone thought of him like that, but _Barry was 8 years old_!

 

“You’re a bit young for that, Barry,” Len said, still softly. “You’ll meet a lot of people, make lots of friends, and one day you won’t even remember your old babysitter.”

 

Barry flew out of his blankets and wrapped his arms and legs around Len. “ _No_!” he cried. “I’ll always remember you! I love you, and I want you to be here all the time, and I want to marry you one day! Don’t leave me!”

 

Len wasn’t sure what to do. He slowly patted Barry’s head, smoothing the hair out of his face. “I’m eight years older than you, Barry,” he tried again. “That’s a lot of years.”

 

“My mom is ten years younger than my dad, but they’re still married,” Barry protested and Len sighed.

 

“That’s because they’re grown ups,” he explained. “The rules are different then.”

 

Barry looked up. “There are rules?” he asked incredulously and Len laughed a bit.

 

“Lots,” he assured the boy. “Grown ups are stupid, remember?”

 

He kissed Barry’s forehead. “How about this? When you turn 18 and you still want to, you can ask me on a date. I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

 

Barry scrunched his nose. “That’s in ten years!”

 

“Yes,” Len laughed. “Still think you’re gonna love me then?”

 

Barry looked at him, a serious expression on his face. “I’ll always love you, Len,” he said and, before Len could say anything else, the boy jumped off Len’s lap and ran downstairs, where Mr. and Mrs. Allen had just announced their arrival.

 

Len pushed a hand through his hair. The boy was going to be the death of him.

He still felt weirdly warm as he walked down to greet his employers.

Eight years or not, it was great to hear that he was loved.

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably get another short story in the same verse at some point :)
> 
> Comments are love <3


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